Scary Picture of Hybrid Turtle-Gator: Hoax

Story:

Scary Hybrid Turtle-Gator

Other Versions

1. Alligator Snapping Turtle Attack

2. Crocodile Snapping Turtle

Scary Picture of Hybrid Turtle-Gator

Analysis:

A picture shared often online, especially on Image sharing platforms, purports to show a scary animal that looks like a Hybrid of Turtle and Alligator (Turtle-Gator). The picture sometimes comes with the description saying it shows an Alligator Snapping Turtle Attack or that it is a Crocodile Snapping Turtle. As a matter of fact, the scary picture of hybrid Turtle-Gator does not show a real animal, it is photoshopped.

Original Picture of Common Snapping Turtle

The photograph in question is actually created by Shasel for Deviant Art website deviantart.com back in 2010 and called it a ‘Crocodile Snapping Turtle’. Alligator snapping turtles exist, but “crocodile” snappers do not. Like mentioned in the description of the Deviant Art post, the picture is a photoshop creation using the image of a Common Snapping Turtle . An Alligator Snapping Turtle, which is one of the heaviest freshwater turtles in the world, is different from the common snapping turtle; it has immensely powerful jaws and long, spring-like neck, along with distinct ridges on its shell that are similar to the rough, ridged skin of an alligator. Shown in the video is the finding of one such swamp monster, the alligator snapping turtle.

So the picture does not show any scary hybrid Turtle-Gator, it’s a photoshop creation combining the images of the body of a common snapping turtle and the face of an alligator.